Blog - Prophecies of Daniel

How Russia now views the USA

Mar 21, 2025 · by Mark McMillion · In: Current events

Could Donald Trump be for the USA what Michael Gorbachov was for Russia? That’s a popular view in Russia currently. While Trump’s election was greeted warmly in Moscow, digging a little deeper we find that all is not as benign as it seems.

It turns out that many in the Kremlin feel that a Trump presidency might bring about the collapse of America. That the USA is in the final stage of its history is not a new idea in Russia.

Nikolai Patrushev, one of Mr. Putin’s key advisers, said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, that he expected the United States would split into North and South, with the South moving “toward Mexico, whose lands were seized by Americans in 1848,” he said.

That might sound laughable to us in the USA. But you have to admit that, viewed from afar, the fractures in American society can easily be seen to be beyond the point of no return. And many Russian advisers and officials see the recent American film “Civil War,” which depicts California and Texas seceding, with bloodshed erupting across the nation, as a reflection of how Americans see their near future.

The movie was released in Russia under the title “The Fall of the Empire”. Dmitri Medvedev, former president of Russia, remarked on his Telegram channel that he took it as proof that civil war in the United States is inevitable. “Hollywood doesn’t make films about it for no reason”, he said.

Let’s not forget how close to home this can hit for Russians and their leadership. In the lifetime of many of us, Russia was the head of a vast empire, the USSR. But it collapsed in the 1990’s and that’s seen by much of the leadership there as the greatest failure ever to hit their motherland. Putin is fully known to see it that way.

And who immediately preceded the collapse of the USSR? Michael Gorbachov. I lived for a year in Moscow in the mid 90’s and it struck me as strange how many Russians viewed Gorbachov back then. It was a common belief there that he may have been a CIA plant. For one, friends said, the way Gorbachov spoke Russian was suspicious; it didn’t sound right, they said. And the end result of his rule is seen by so many as a vast failure and catastrophe for the nation.

But he rose to power through the ranks of the Soviet government, having what was a good track record and he intended to shake things up. Glasnost and Perestoika it was called. However, the end result was far from what those in power were intending. The shake ups and radical reforms turned into a death knell and collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Russian empire. In the corridors of power in the Kremlin now, Trump is seen as a likely Gorbachov for the declining empire of America.

As the good Lord said, “A nation divided against itself cannot stand” (Mark 3:24). And nothing pleases a predator more than to find potential meals fighting amongst themselves. Reflecting on these current views of America, it’s hard not to feel the Russians have a point.

To officials in the Kremlin, Gorbachev was a self-absorbed narcissist who loved to talk — a man without a plan, a strategy or any clear understanding of his goals, a politician who undermined core institutions that supported the state and left only chaos in his wake. And they see the current president-elect here as playing a similar role.

Well, it’s an interesting viewpoint and it all remains to be seen. But it just helps sometimes to see ourselves as others see us. Particularly in this time of hyper-partisanship, when we are forced at every turn to choose between the hard right and the extreme left. Is the American dream and empire about to fall? We’ve heard that before and still, here we are.

I’m glad that my identity is rooted in Christian discipleship which should make it possible to rise above the chaos that is so enveloping here currently. I’m a providentialist, I believe I can and should accept what has transpired with the recent election while continuing to keep my foundation on the rock of Christ and God’s truth, rather than the roaring confusion that is so strong now.

[I should mention that some of the information and views expressed in this article come from an editorial in the New York Times, written by Mikhail Zygar, a Russian journalist.]

“Summoning” and A.I.

Jun 20, 2023 · by Mark McMillion · In: Angels, Miracles and the spirit world, Current events, Insights, The Future and Endtime, Uncategorized

I scan the horizon daily for “the signs of the times”. Some things have been there for years. But, what’s new? What’s now in view that indicates progress toward the very final end time foreseen in the Bible?

“Artificial Intelligence” has been around for years, in some sense. But in recent times, with things like Chat GPT, there’s a new chapter and a new time of greatly enhanced computer advancement. For me, I view this from the perspective of a Christian who’s looking to see the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and the coming of the future foretold through the Biblical prophets.

I prefer to keep things as simple as possible. But I’m going to need to take the narrative up a notch in discussing A.I. and the Bible , to some of the more mysterious, complex aspects of the Biblical future, spoken of by Jesus and the prophets.

Most of those reading this have heard somewhere of “the Anti-Christ”, the prophesied world dictator who will arise, just before the return of Jesus. And certainly the concept of “the mark of the beast” has become more and more known, even by secularist around the world.

They may not believe it but many millions have come to know the ideas behind the verse that says of a future point in time, “No man might buy or sell unless he had the mark of the beast… in his hand or his forehead”. This is also where the famous reference to “the number of the beast [the anti-Christ] which is 666“. (Revelation 13:16-18)

But the number of those grasping these things greatly shrinks when we get to places in the Bible that may be where we find Artificial Intelligence becoming part of the fulfillment. We could start with one of the least understood things Jesus of Nazareth ever said. And He said it at a pinnacle moment in a pinnacle chapter, when He was telling His disciples about His return to earth and the time just before that event.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand it, I’m not sure anyone yet has a complete, total grasp of how this will be fulfilled. Jesus said, “When you shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso reads, let him understand.” (Matthew 24:15)

Didn’t get it, did you? No worries; we’re going to try to delve into this, comparing Scripture with Scripture, as well as bringing in AI, and then see if there’s a clearer idea of it all from doing that.

Probably the biggest enigma in what Jesus said there is that phrase “the abomination of desolation”. Most likely you have no idea what that is. And I’m not going to be able to definitely clear it all up for you. But it’s worth looking into since Jesus brought it up. And also the prophet Daniel was told about this over 500 years before Jesus pointed to it, when talking about His second coming. [By the way, I went over these things in more detail in a video I did some years ago which linked Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 with the last verse in Daniel 9, verse 27. Here’s the link to that video:]

“Mark! Mark! I have it! The abomination of desolation is the Anti-Christ!”

Well, some do teach that but I personally don’t think the “AC” is the abomination. Jesus said “the abomination of desolation” was spoken of by the prophet Daniel. That phrase is used in several places in Daniel but the one that is most clear is Daniel 11:31. It says this. “And arms [armaments] shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength [soon to be rebuilt temple in Jerusalem]; and they shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate.”

This and other places always give the picture of the abomination being a thing. Jesus said it will “stand” in the temple. It will be “placed” there. But the Antichrist is a person “the son of perdition”, similarly to how Jesus was a person, the very Son of God. As well, II Thessalonians 2:3 & 4 says the Antichrist will “sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”. So I feel pretty strongly that the abomination is “a thing”, not a person.

The mystery deepens, no? One thing to remember, the word “abomination” in the Old Testament was often used to speak of what we today call an idol. They were physical objects, placed in temples where the gods of old, Dagon, Ashtoreth, Baal and others were worshipped. The Greeks and Romans had similar things, all the way up to New Testament times.

“Mark, is there anything in the book of Revelation about this?”

I think there is and this is where we get a view of where Artificial Intelligence may be an integral part of it all. I mentioned already those mysterious verses in Revelation 13 about “666” and “the mark of the beast”.

But we have to go deeper. We have to squeeze the truth from more of these verses to get a fuller picture. Many have heard vaguely of the Antichrist to come. But far fewer know that the book of Revelation says he will have a “side kick”, evidently a number 2 man, who the Bible calls “the false prophet”. And it says of this false prophet, in Revelation 13 that, “he has power to give life to the image of the Beast, that the image of the Beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the Beast should be slain.” (Revelation 13:15)

What’s the image of the beast, you ask? It becomes fascinating when we find that the word “image” in the Bible is often referring to an idol, just as the word “abomination” did in the Old Testament. If you do a Word study on those two words, “abomination” and “image”, you’ll see how many times they are referring to what we today call idols.

And I’ve taught and do believe that “the image of the Beast” in Revelation 13 and “the abomination of desolation” that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 are the same thing. That might be a jump for some but I believe it is a sound conclusion that can stand review.

It is my opinion that “the abomination of desolation” and “the image of the beast” both refer to some kind of very advanced “machine”, for lack of a better word. Or I could say computer but one that’s so far advanced that it’s beyond what most regular folks in the world today can imagine. My thought on this is similar to a number of Bible students who’ve looked deeply into the specifics of the Bible’s teaching on the end time.

And this falls into the realm of reality since we all know just how fast and how far technology is advancing in those fields. Elon Musk is creating bio chips to link our brains into a mega-network that may bring on forms of bio-technical eternal life.

In all this, I zero in on the verse that says, “He had power to give life to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many of those that did not worship the beast should be slain”. So, a life-infused computer that can speak, also directing or monitoring all economic transactions on earth, as it says in Revelation 13:17. But actually, how farfetched does that really seem to be in the times we now live in?

I want to bring in here some things that have appeared recently in the New York Times newspaper. And keep in mind the part about “he had power to give life to the image of the beast”. Because that’s what’s comes to my mind when I’ve several times seen the word “summoning” in connection with what the absolute top scientists in Silicon Valley and elsewhere are working on with these things.

What are those tech creators summoning? The articles say they are summoning spirits, demons from beyond or whatever to inhabit and dwell in their most advanced computer concoctions in order to have them reach the limits and realms that the A.I. coders are trying to take things to. And this sounds exactly like what those verses in Revelation said would ultimately happen.

I’ll end this with just a few of the quotes I’ve taken note of in the New York Times articles that have come out about this. Here’s one.

“In 2018, Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google — and not one of the tech executives known for overstatement — said, ‘A.I. is probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on. I think of it as something more profound than electricity or fire.’”

[from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/11/technology/silicon-valley-confronts-the-idea-that-the-singularity-is-here.html]

And even more, this quote gets to the essence of where AI advancement has come to. Read this paragraph with focus and bring in what the Bible says “the image of the Beast” will be capable of.

“We typically reach for science fiction stories when thinking about A.I. I’ve come to believe the apt metaphors lurk in fantasy novels and occult texts. As my colleague Ross Douthat wrote, this is an act of summoning. The coders casting these spells have no idea what will stumble through the portal. What is oddest, in my conversations with them, is that they speak of this freely. These are not naifs who believe their call can be heard only by angels. They believe they might summon demons. They are calling anyway.”

[from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/12/opinion/chatbots-artificial-intelligence-future-weirdness.html]

Friends, this is not coming from Alex Jones or some loony loner in a cabin in Idaho. This is published in what’s considered by the power elites to be the most reputable newspaper in America. They boldly publish that the most advanced scientific creators are now openly summoning demons into their computers.

I’ll end this with part of an article by Ross Douthat, again in the New York Times. It perhaps summarizes much better than I can what we are seeing here and what this is leading towards.

“In this sense what we’re doing resembles a complex incantation, a calling of spirits from Shakespeare’s “vasty deep.” Build a system that imitates human intelligence, make it talk like a person and answer questions like an encyclopedia and solve problems through leaps we can’t quite follow, and wait expectantly to see if something infuses itself into the mysterious space where the leaps are happening, summoned by the inviting home that we have made.

Such a summoning is most feared by A.I. alarmists, at present, because the spirit might be disobedient, destructive, a rampaging Skynet bent on our extermination.

But the old stories of the magicians and their bargains, of Faust and his Mephistopheles, suggest that we would be wise to fear apparent obedience as well.’

[from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/magic-science-ufo-ai.html]

Has Putin shot his bolt?

Feb 24, 2023 · by Mark McMillion · In: Current events, Insights, The Future and Endtime

There was almost no fear greater than the fear of Russia. But now Putin’s had to (as they say in poker), “Put what you’ve got on the table.” And it hasn’t looked good so far. No one expected Ukraine to be able to withstand Russia. But they have.

One year into the war, it’s rather a stalemate. But that’s a defeat in many ways for Russia. They were our greatest fear and have been for over 70 years. And now? You can feel they have perhaps two choices. Go fully nuclear, the unspeakable alternative that’s remained our global fear since World War II. Or they can continue to send 10’s of 1000’s of their young men (in a nation desperate to repopulate itself) into the meat grinder of eastern Ukraine, to face resolute Ukrainians and the best weapons the Western powers can provide. Simply put, it’s not looking great for the mystique of Russian superiority and ultimate world dominance, as so many of us have bought into for so long.

And what if you study Bible prophecy? What about “the king of the north”? What about Ezekiel 38? My friends, we’ve been counting on these guys, haven’t we? No need to squirm, I could do the same. I think there are a lot of folks around who’ve been counting on Russia to provide a good deal of the power and “evil” to be fulfilled that’s been predicted in the end time build up, spoken of in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation.

But presently, Russia is losing huge numbers of troops and equipment on the plains of eastern Ukraine. And those resources in blood and treasure are not something that springs freely up out of the ground. They are depleted, they’re being exhausted and so very many look at it and feel it’s a fool’s errand that Mr. Putin has sent Russian power and prestige into. “All for nothing”, so many feel of the present war in Ukraine. My prophecy aficionado friends, how will Russia invade the Middle East if they can’t even take the eastern most part of Ukraine?

I hope you’re not expecting me to pull the cookies out of the fire and the rabbit out of the hat on this. I’m as stumped as you are. Perhaps some scenario develops where Putin is overthrown and a new leader arises who’ll lead Russia into a wiser and more prosperous future, more than at any time in its past. But as always, “what if’s” abound at every turn.

How does this all impact the picture of the unfolding end time, which in other areas continues to proceed most forebodingly? I really don’t know. And in my searching the internet for anyone else out there who sees all these data points leading us toward… what!…, I haven’t heard of anyone coming up with a clear, cognizant foreseeing of where all this is leading.

New and stranger goings on proceed briskly in the secular nation of Israel in the Middle East. Will the new, ultra religious government there clear the way for the building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem? And artificial intelligence meanwhile is gathering pace by leaps and bounds; some now predict that “the singularity” is only 7 years away. Tragic natural disasters fall on top of immense refugee crises, war against Iran is a daily storm on the horizon, Western nations muddle through their internal befuddlements and suicide rates for young people increase year by year.

And the latest fear is that China will come to the aid of Russia with an infinity of weaponry, matching what the West is giving Ukraine. My, how that would be an unfathomably ominous turn of events in this saga. Would that not bring us face to face with the full scenario of World War III that was so before us at the height of the Cold War?

How does it all turn out? Will Russia ultimately sue for peace (as Germany did in World War I) and be defeated on the battle field after human losses unheard of before that time? Will China come to the side and aid of Russia, creating a new axis of power internationally? Will there be a cease fire where both sides get just enough of what they want so that both can claim a type of victory? Your guess may be as good as mine.

Still, I remain convinced that the end of the matter of these wars and rumors of wars is that through the haze and heartbreak will be the unfolding of Bible prophecy that will ultimately lead to the so welcomed second coming of our dear Jesus Christ to bring peace to the earth, after “a time of trouble such as was not since the beginning of the world”, to establish His righteous government, ordained and foretold by God and the prophets.

Of course that sounds ludicrous to the unbelievers who are in the majority now. But as the final events unfold, I believe so many will see ultimately that the only sane explanation of this present world is one that takes us to what turns out to be truly our only hope: God Himself and His intervention to save us all from ourselves and each other, where the people of the earth accept and welcome the intervention of God to pull our existence out of the destruction we have brought it to.

The Bible Belt and the End Time

Feb 1, 2023 · by Mark McMillion · In: Current events, The Future and Endtime

What could “the Bible Belt” have to do with the prophetic End Time? Bear with me, there’s ground to explore here. For those outside the USA and not familiar with the term “Bible Belt”, I’ll explain.

The Bible Belt is a term generally given to the southeastern United States. At the same time it’s referring to the large number of Christians in that part of the USA who’ve continued to keep the faith in fundamental Christianity. This region has continued to have more ardent believers who identify as socially conservative Christians, compared to any other part of the country.

The Bible Belt is where I come from and now reside. I was not raised a Christian. By the age of 12, I loved to debate Christians my age, to mock and break their faith. Most often, I was successful since so many were weak in faith and shallow in their Christian experience.

But all the while, there was the influence of my Methodist grandparents, back when being a Methodist meant something. Sadly, over that last 50 to 60 years, that movement has deteriorated into a gender-fluid miasma of quasi-Christian verbiage and has functionally ceased to be the Christian influence that it was for 200 years. But my grandparents were of the generation in which they still “flew the flag” of genuine Christianity and that strongly impacted me, even at the age of 5 or 6.

What in the world does this have to do with the prophetic End Time? The Bible says there will be those going through the final days before the coming of the Lord who “will be strong and do exploits.” There will be Christians here who’ll stand up against the Antichrist and will be victors, even as many are martyred.

“They overcame him (the coming Antichrist) by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Rev. 12:11) This is in the chapter that speaks most clearly about “the woman in the wilderness”, which I believe to be the saved believers on earth in the final days.

There are a number of places in the Bible that clearly foretell of discipleship Christians alive and prospering in the end time before the coming of the Lord, who are teaching, witnessing and letting their lights shine in the final days before the return of Jesus to this earth.

As I survey my horizon, I do feel that those fervent believers across the USA “Bible Belt” have a reservoir of faith and conviction solid enough that, in the final end time, they’ll recognize what’s going on and will stand up to be some of the Lord’s strongest witnesses in the “great tribulation” (see Matthew 24:21, Daniel 12:1), before the Lord returns to establish His kingdom.

At this present time, these millions of “Bible Belt” Christians are being mocked and marginalized by the modern, Christ-less American media. They’re maligned as racist, bigoted, “homophobic”, uneducated remnants of a distant and indecent past. So the media voice of “this present world” would have us believe.

One place that shows the transformation happening to many American Christians is in the battle against the woke/Progressive agenda becoming fully dominate in public schools. Recently, I’ve been encouraged to see parents and grandparents realizing the necessity of standing up for their Christian values in the present battle for the soul of public education here. I wrote about my experiences with this in “Check out your local school board”.

I see many American Christians who are in a rather steep learning curve presently. They are seeing their American nationalism, a foundation stone for millions here, has to now be reevaluated as my nation daily moves more speedily away from the Godly moorings it was established on in earlier times.

Speaking plainly, I do feel that “the woman in the wilderness” of Revelation 12:6 & 14 may include these Bible Belt Christians who are now finding that the only thing they have left, as times “wax worse and worse”, is their foundation of faith in God that they learned from their forefathers. Ardent American Christians are increasingly realizing that the basic Christian decency this nation was steeped in for generations has been abandoned and swept away by the “woke/progressive” hordes who presently dominate our national debate.

As the final end times come ever closer, “Bible Belt” Christians will find that they’ve been tragically misled by those who’ve told them they will be “raptured just any minute”. And as one prop and falsehood after the other is seen by them to be a lie, they’ll come to find that the truth that they’ve known in Jesus is still as strong as ever. And probably much to their surprise, they’ll become some of the ones who’ll be the strongest voices for the cause of Christ as the darkness rapidly descends upon this world and this nation, before His return.

***

I’ve written on this subject before and it might be good to including links to those places, to provide context and a more complete view. I wrote, while in Bulgaria, about “the women fled into the wilderness”. Here’s the link to that: https://www.propheciesofdaniel.com/fleeing-into-the-wilderness-in-bulgaria/

And is anyone presently living a brand of discipleship Christianity that could be an example and foreshadowing of the endtime Christians to come? I wrote this article about a young American family who currently remind me of future end time Christians to come. There’s even been a movie made about them. https://www.propheciesofdaniel.com/living-end-time-exploits-now/

Jesus returned to earth in 70 A.D.?

Jun 23, 2022 · by Mark McMillion · In: Basic Christianity, Current events, Insights, The Future and Endtime

Did Jesus of Nazareth’s 2^nd coming happen in 70 A.D? Did the fulfillments of dozens of prophecies reach their final climax then? Don’t laugh. Sadly there has been a ripple in the community of those who believe in the Lord’s return, somehow gazing toward this view that the return of Jesus to reign and rule happened in 70 AD.

Instead of sharing thoughts I have on this, I think it would be best to just share what the Early Church Fathers said on this subject. Several of these men died a martyr’s death. And they lived and led the Christians at the time when the vehement fires of Christian discipleship were at their strongest, in the first one to three hundred years after the ascension of the Lord.

If anyone had a close understanding of the original mindset of the “church” that Jesus left behind on earth, it would be these men and women. Did they believe the Lord had come back in 70 AD? Were they looking to that date as the time of the fulfillment of most all prophecies?

Of course you know the answer. None of them talked or taught that way. They all looked forward to the future, yet-to-be-fulfilled return of the Lord, after 42 months of great tribulation and the revelation of the endtime antichrist spoken of in prophecy throughout Scripture. Here’s what they said.

Barnabas, who traveled with the Apostle Paul, wrote: “The final stumbling block approaches…for the whole past time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger….then the evil one Antichrist may find no means of entrance….” (Epistle of Barnabas, chp.4)

Justin Martyr (100-165) wrote: “The man of apostasy, [Antichrist] who speaks strange things
against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians..” (Dialogue with Trypho, chp.110)

Irenaeus (138-202) a contemporary of Justin Martyr, wrote: “And they, the ten kings who will arise, shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast antichrist and put the church to flight” (Against Heresies, V, chp.26)

Tertullian (150-220) a contemporary of Irenaeus, wrote: “The souls of the martyrs are taught to wait [Rev.6:9-10] that the beast Antichrist with his false prophet may wage war on the Church of God…” (On the Resurrection of the Flesh, chp.25)

Cyprian (200-258) a contemporary of Tertullian, wrote: “The day of affliction has begun to hang over our heads, and the end of the world and the time of the Antichrist to draw near, so that we must all stand prepared for the battle…” (Epistle, 55, 1)

Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386), wrote: “The church declares to you the things concerning Antichrist before they arrive…it is well that, knowing these things, thou shouldest make thyself ready beforehand.” (Catechetical Lectures, 15,9)

And there is much more than this, from the pillars of Christianity from the Early Church Fathers to modern times, pointing towards the future coming of the Lord as well as the end time events that the Bible says will happen in the very final days before His return. If you have an interest in these things and want to read more on this, you could go to this link, https://earlychurchbelief.blogspot.com/2008/08/early-church-fathers.html

But certainly some will ask, “Why does any of this matter?”

If the enemy of God can get us to drop our spiritual sword and shield, then he gains victory over us. And it can be a very disarming thought that virtually all Bible prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD, that the climactic, world-shattering prophecies of Daniel, Revelation and many others in the Bible, not to mention the words of Jesus Himself, were all drained of their significance at the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

It’s like that cartoon I put in another article on this subject, which I’ll add again here. “Relax, it all happened in 70 AD.” Exactly, if that’s the conclusion you come to. Relax.

Except that that’s not the voice of the Lord and the doctrine isn’t either.

I’ve tried to make this article short enough so that folks will feel they can read it without getting bogged down. If you’ve somehow come in contact with this doctrine, it’s technical name is “preterism”, I hope that these quotes on the subject from the Early Church Fathers will persuade you that the earliest Christians did not at all look at 70 AD as “the end”. But they looked forward, as many of us now do, to a coming return of the Lord to establish His Kingdom on earth. God bless you.